The subject matter herein relates generally to surface mounted electrical connectors, and more particularly to surface mounted electrical connectors that include flexible solder tails.
In recent years, surface mounted electrical connectors mounted using surface mount technology have gained popularity for interconnecting circuit boards because the connectors make electrical connections to many elements on the circuit board, the connectors have high contact densities, and other advantages. The connector is electrically connected to the circuit board by soldering ends of each of the contacts provided inside a housing of the connector to a pad on a surface of the circuit board.
Known surface mounted electrical connectors are not without disadvantages. For instance, when the circuit board mounted with the connector is used in harsh environments, such as in military applications, aerospace applications, automobile applications, and the like, the circuit board is subjected to harsh conditions. For example, thermal stress and/or vibrations can cause stress on the contacts and the solder connecting the contacts and the pads on the circuit board. The stress and/or vibrations may cause the connector to become partially or wholly disconnected from the circuit board.
Additional problems arise with high density connectors in that the bonding surface for each terminal may be limited. For example, the size of the contact may be reduced within high density connectors to accommodate more contacts within a given envelope and/or the amount of real estate on the circuit board is limited in high density applications. As a result, the amount of solder that bonds the contact to the board may be limited, which may exaggerate the problems associated with thermal stress and/or vibrations.
Other problems associated with known surface mounted electrical connectors arise from the difficulty of arranging the contacts, the housing and/or the circuit board properly during assembly. For example, component tolerances and/or manufacturing process variations may cause the contacts, the housing and/or the circuit board to be misaligned with one another. Generally, the contacts are typically oriented coplanar with the circuit board for proper surface mounting. However, when the contacts are not coplanar with the circuit board, a gap may be created between the contact and the circuit board, which may or may not be filled by the solder to effectively bond the contact to the pad on the circuit board.
A need remains for surface mounted electrical connectors that may be manufactured and/or assembled in a cost effective and reliable manner. A need remains for surface mounted electrical connectors that provide reliable connections with the circuit board, even during use in harsh environments.